A Simple Simile
by Jetsir
Summary: She was a lot like Suna to him, and he couldn't help but wonder why... Mild GaaraxOC


To Gaara, physicals were annoying

To Gaara, physicals were annoying.

Every six months, he had to go to the doctor to get poked and prodded, all the while getting asked the same old questions.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Does anything hurt?"

"Are there any questions you'd like to ask me?"

He always had the same old answer.

"No."

"No."

"No."

He really didn't see the point in going to the doctor when nothing was wrong with him. It was a waste of time, time that he couldn't afford to be wasting as the Kazekage of his village.

Though the _real_ reason why he didn't like physicals was his doctor, Tanaka Aiko. She was a young medic nin in the village, well known for her silly quirks and defensiveness over her hair color (it was light brown, _not_ blonde).

Though she did not have years of experience in the medical field under her belt like the other medic nin of Suna, she was by no means a novice. If anything, she could more than handle a simple routine physical.

It wasn't that Aiko was annoying or obnoxious. On the contrary she was always efficient and professional, yet kept a light, friendly atmosphere in the room at the same time. It was that she made him feel…_weird._

Aiko was always concerned about him, it seemed the concern went beyond the typical "doctor concern" for a patient. When he had told her about his thoughts on physicals, about them being pointless, she had replied, "I know _you_ know you feel fine, Gaara-sama, but please, for my sake, at least let _me_ know that you're fine." The look on her face that day had been intense, and her eyes had shown with an emotion that was completely unfamiliar to Gaara.

He had never known anyone to feel such concern over a complete stranger. He'd only seen this between someone and their precious person. Did she consider him her precious person? Or was he just over thinking things?

These two questions caused him to spend a lot of time staring into space thinking about the young brunette. Then came the weird feelings.

Whenever he was near her, whether it be in passing in the village or during a check-up, he felt warm, and a sudden fluttering sensation ran through the pit of his stomach. Though he didn't show it, this bothered him. It was…_weird_.

One day, a thought hit him, was it love? This weird feeling he got around her, was it love? He had always heard of people getting strange feelings when they first fell in love, but could this be it? And what exactly was love? And what did it mean to be in love with someone?

As he pondered these things, he started to become more and more distracted in his work. When it got to the point that his siblings had noticed and began to ask questions that he decided that this was a problem. After all, a distracted Kazekage was not a good Kazekage.

So, he decided to solve his problem.

At his next check-up, when Aiko had finished the initial part of the physical, she asked, "so, are there any questions you have?"

She expected him to say no, so she was caught completely off guard from the unexpected reply she had gotten.

"What is love?" Gaara asked, maybe she would know the answer, seeing as love was in her name.

"N-nani!?" the look on her face was priceless. She reminded Gaara of a gaping fish.

"What is love?" Gaara asked again, more pointedly this time.

"Um, well, it's hard to explain, um…" Aiko stared off into space in thought, idly picking at the sleeve of her doctor's jacket. Her face then took on an expression that read "I've got it!" then she looked back at Gaara, "Gaara-sama, how do you feel about the village?"

"I don't see what this question has to do with what I asked," stated Gaara, a little bit of annoyance laced in his tone.

"Trust me, it has a lot to do with what you asked," she smiled encouragingly.

He looked at her skeptically, then stared off into space in thought, after a while, he spoke, "It's very important to me, I want to protect it. I don't want to think about anything happening to it."

"_That's_ what love is," stated Aiko.

"What?" She didn't make any sense! Gaara was starting to doubt the girl's intelligence. What happened to the standard for medical ninja in his village?

"Love's that need to protect something close to you. That fear of something bad happening to it because it's very important to you, it's precious. You can feel love for anything, whether it's a person, an object, or, for example, the village. You feel that way about the vilage because you love it," Aiko explained.

"…oh," was all Gaara had to say as he processed the information he was just given. So the feeling of loving someone was like the feeling he felt for his village?

"What's with all this stuff about love all of a sudden?" Aiko asked, "have you fallen in love with someone?"

"Are we done here?" Gaara asked, completely avoiding the question. He stood from his seat.

She smiled knowingly, "hai, Gaara-sama," she bowed respectfully then they both left the room, parting as they went in separate ways down the hall of the hospital.

Gaara paused, turning around to watch Aiko walk away. A very small smile graced his lips when he came to a sudden revelation, Tanaka Aiko reminded him of Suna.

--

A/N: I wrote this as a birthday present for my friend, Janice. As you can see, it's not exactly the typical OC story, as it really doesn't go anywhere. Normally, I accept criticism openly (along with flames), but I really don't want any on this fic. It was a present for a friend and I really think it's something that shouldn't get picked on.


End file.
